This time I want to write about why I started buying music from the various artists that I listen to. So what made me listen to these artists, what defining song if any made me to sit up and take notice? As usual when dealing with my memories, sometimes I forget, sometimes I delude myself, sometimes I make stuff up on the spot. We'll go in alphabetical order by artist.

10,000 Maniacs. The defining CD is "In My Tribe" which one my roommates, Darren, listened to in Freshman Year. All the time. Back then it was all cassette tapes, and one side had "In My Tribe", the other had Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians' "Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars". Although I'm not sure I like some of the other Maniacs CDs, I still listen to them and have most of them except for the first two.

SherriŽ Austin. Back when I was getting into country music I found "The Crook and Chase Show" and one episode was coverage of 1998 or 1999's Fan Fair, which is a country music fair in Nashville or Memphis and lots of artists show up to sign autographs and talk to the fans. In any case Crook and Chase were interviewing a bunch of the artists and the ones that I remember are SherriŽ Austin (from Australia), SHeDAISY (from Utah), Chely Wright (from Kansas?), and Claudia Church (from North Carolina?). For some reason I decided from the interviews that I'd buy their CDs and that was a good decision indeed. Although I don't think I've ever heard SherriŽ on the radio, her two CDs are both quite good.

The Bangles. Another college influence. Once again Darren is responsible for this one (my other roommate, Jim was really into Madonna but he always used headphones so it never rubbed off on me). He loved The Bangles and had all their albums and even the rare first album. He was ecstatic when Susanna Hoffs stopped by at Sproul Plaza in UCB and played a few songs. They are a good band and hopefully they'll get back together.

B*Witched. Hmm, I saw them first (their songs don't get played on the radio stations I listen to) during some world music awards (I was watching it because Britney Spears sang a song there). They performed "C'est La Vie" and it's kind of cute the way they jump around. Aah, to be young again. Two of the group are twin sisters which is interesting in and of itself. Very much a pop music group and nice to listen to for their happy songs.

Mariah Carey. She had so many good songs that I had to get the CDs. Heck, I don't remember the first CD I bought or the first video I saw. Her last two original song CDs I'm not too enthusiastic about, although I love the other CDs. Probably either her style has changed or I'ved moved on a bit.

Claudia Church. See SherriŽ Austin. Claudia only has one CD which I bought a two or three months ago. Don't know if she's going to do another CD as it's been a while since that first CD. It's very backwoods country music and reflective. Another artist I never hear on the radio. My favorite song is "Home in My Heart" which has a nice pensive recollection of her childhood, I presume.

Paula Cole. C'mon, "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" is a great song and addictive too. That's the only reason I bought her second CD. Her first CD is also good, although her third CD I haven't quite gotten into. The first two CDs I listened to a lot and got them firmly in my mind before I found out what an ultra-liberal person she is, and that's colored my feelings of the third CD. But as I so often say, once I start collecting, I stick with it.

The Corrs. "Runaway" is the only Corrs song I've ever heard on the radio. KIOI played it a lot for a while but that was years ago. Occassionally I'd hear it again and for some reason it stuck in my mind and gnawed at me until I finally bought the CD, a little after they came out with their second CD. I'd really like to go to one of their concerts but they have astonishly few US dates, the closest one being in Portland this mid-December.